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Good afternoon all.  Recently I received an email here at ProSchools from an interested reader wondering if I have “any insight as to which life insurance carriers are the [sic] best?”  Interesting and loaded question. The term “best” is subjective at least and highly arguable at worst.  Ask 20 producers “what life carrier is the best life carrier” and you’ll likely get 20 different responses in most cases.  As with all insurance companies, there’s good and there’s bad.  Having been licensed in this industry for 25 years, I have seen the good, bad and indifferent.  From huge multinational corporations to smaller, regional carriers- they all have both good and bad.

When asking the individual his or her preference, it’s been my experience that all producers have “favorites” in terms of preferred carriers in which to submit business.  This could be for any number of reasons:  underwriting ease, pricing, customer service, commission structures (you shouldn’t be placing your clients with a particular carrier only because of a higher commission structure) and a host of other reasons.  Looking at the individual agent for recommendations is like asking any individual for a preference- they will steer you to the company that they prefer best due to their own individual experiences.  What does that mean?  Nothing more than one person’s preference… not necessarily the preference of many agents, just that one agent. So what now?  Simple… we need statistics!  Being one that always has some type of statistic available when the need exists, let’s look at some numbers!  Read on for data!

The Agent’s Sales Journal has completed their “2010 Life Insurance Carrier Report Card” that queries hundreds of agents as to “How the Industry’s Major Carriers Handle Your Needs- According to Producers Like You.”  The 2010 report asked producers to respond to questions dealing with a number of life insurance concerns (which are detailed later in this article) running the gamut from “most preferred to write” to how the carriers “Promote Offerings” in terms of marketing and advertising.  This is a telling article that first appeared in the July, 2010 issue and the results of which are shown below.

Personal thanks goes out to the Agent’s Sales Journal for staying on top of the life insurance industry.  This publication should be considered an invaluable source for serious life producers and I wholeheartedly endorse the magazine.

This year’s poll garnered responses from almost 500 agents, and here are some of the more interesting results from the survey:

The carriers represented in the survey are as follows: 

A couple of notes to go along with the following survey results:

• Respondents were only permitted to rank those companies with which they were appointed, except in two categories- Best at Raising Public Awareness and Best at Promoting Offerings
• Respondents are direct responses from independent producers
• Respondents must have sold at least one life insurance policy in the last 12 months

Here are some of the results of the 2010 Life Insurance Carrier Report Card as reported by the Agent’s Sales Journal

Category: “Most Preferred to Write”

These are companies with which agents write the most business

1. Genworth
2. MetLife
3. Transamerica
4. TIE:  Aviva, Lincoln Financial

Category:  “Training and Educational Opportunities”

These companies were considered the best at providing training and educational opportunities for selling life insurance.

1. Genworth
2. TIE:  Allianz, MetLife
3. TIE:  Prudential, John Hancock, Lincoln Financial

Category: “Marketing Material”

Carriers considered most effective at life insurance sales and marketing material.

1. Genworth
2. MetLife
3. Allianz
4. TIE:  Aviva, ING, John Hancock, Lincoln Financial

Category: “Call Center/Telephone Support”

Insurers providing the best call center/telephone support for life insurance sales efforts.

1. Genworth
2. Allianz
3. National Life
4. Lincoln Financial
5. Midland National

Category: “Raising Public Awareness”

Carriers rated best at raising public awareness about the benefits of life insurance.

1. MetLife
2. John Hancock
3. Genworth
4. Prudential
5. TIE:  Allianz, American General, ING, Lincoln Financial

Category: “Leads and Prospecting Help”

Life insurers rated most effective at providing producers with leads and prospecting help.

1. Genworth
2. Allianz
3. MetLife
4. ING
5. John Hancock

Category: “Promoting Offerings”

Carriers considered the best at promoting life insurance offerings through marketing/advertising.

1. MetLife
2. Allianz
3. TIE:  Genworth, John Hancock
4. ING

Category: “Best Overall”

Here are the companies that have been rated and reported as the best at meeting producers’ overall needs in the life insurance market.

1. John Hancock
2. Genworth
3. MetLife
4. TIE:  ING, Lincoln Financial

So…what do you think?  Everyone seems to have an opinion based on personal experience and a host of other factors.  Let me know what you think!  Comments are welcome and appreciated and I will always post those comments that (1) make sense, (2) are well-thought out and thought provoking, and (3) don’t need a whole lot of editing in terms of spelling and/or grammar!  Take care, more later!  -Gary